CSO petitions EFCC over economic sabotage at Kano Free Trade Zone
A Civil Society Organisation (CSO), Centre for Awareness on Good Governance and Development has petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged illegalities taking place at the Nigerian Export Processing Zone Authority’s (NEPZA) Free Trade Zone in Kano State, leading to loss of billions of Naira in revenue.
SolaceBase reports that the petition received on May 30th, 2024 by the antigraft graft agency was signed by the CSO Executive Director, Abubakar Auwal Yakubu.
The organisation alleged that the illegality was taking place under the watch of some unpatriotic officers of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS).
The petition read in parts:
“We write as a member of the civil society organisation to bring your immediate attention to the Economic Sabotage of Monumental Proportion going on at the Kano Export Processing Zone at Panisau in Kanl State.
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”Our complaint is to the effect that for some time now the management and other officials charged with the operationalization and Management of the Kano Free Trade Zone have unpatriotically turned the Zone into an illegal hub of economic Sabotage by engaging in action prejudicial to the purpose of the establishment of the said Zone.”
These heinous actions include embarking on mass clearance of finished goods contrary to the law and objective of the establishment of the Zone.
It said that the main objective of the Free Trade Zone being Export Processing Zone is to add value to the process and clear primary goods for Export at the Zone.
It has no mandate over finished goods that have other designated outlets for their processing and clearance.
By the provision of section 6(1 ) of the Nigerian Export Processing Zone Act, the management of the Export Processing Zone is only empowered to deal with and engage in activities in the third schedule of the Act. Those activities do not include the processing of finished goods for export.
The group urged the EFCC to investigate the illegality as the nation is losing billions of naira to economic saboteurs which is very dangerous to the economy in collaboration with Customs officials who are overseeing the illegal clearance of finished goods at the Free Trade Zone.
The petition further called on the EFCC to stop the illegality in order to save the nation from monumental economic loss.
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